reading lines - Shell Programming and Scripting

c0mrade · #1 (**permalink**) 05-17-2008

Hi all,

I have a file whose content I need to read and get the 3rd line .. ex:

Code:

one
two
three

What I need is to read a content of third line of this file and print first three characters ... I could print first three characters with "head -c 3" if I could get the content of the third line ... that is what I struggle with.. please help

thank you in advance

jaduks · #2 (**permalink**) 05-17-2008

Code:

$ cat test.txt
one
two
three

$ sed '3!d' test.txt | cut -c1-3
thr

//Jadu

era · #3 (**permalink**) 05-17-2008

Might as well do it all in sed.

Code:

sed -n '3s/\(...\).*/\1/p' test.txt

jaduks · #4 (**permalink**) 05-17-2008

Era's solution helped me to find two more similar ways . Thank you Era.

Code:

$ sed -n '3 s/\(.\{3\}\).*/\1/p' test.txt
thr

$ awk 'NR==3 {print substr($0,1,3)}' test.txt
thr

//Jadu

c0mrade · #5 (**permalink**) 05-17-2008

thank you guys..

More UNIX and Linux Forum Topics You Might Find Helpful
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
reading lines in pairs from file in ksh	ytokar	Shell Programming and Scripting	4	02-08-2008 10:50 AM
skip reading certain lines in a file	paulsew	UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers	5	03-26-2007 12:07 AM
Reading multiple lines as single	braindrain	Shell Programming and Scripting	9	10-18-2006 07:16 AM
Reading lines within vi editor	asriva26	Shell Programming and Scripting	2	08-30-2006 06:47 AM
Reading lines within a Unix file.	mariner	UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users	5	11-18-2003 09:26 AM

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode